‘DWTS’: Ally Brooke Explains Why She Volunteered to Go Home in James Van Der Beek’s Place

Dancing With the Stars shocked viewers yet again with another surprising elimination, sending James Van Der Beek and partner Emma Slater home in an emotional week for the Dawson’s Creek star. Van Der Beek and Slater found themselves in the bottom two with Ally Brooke and Sasha Farber, forcing the judges to make a seemingly impossible decision on who to send home.

Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli all ultimately decided to save Brooke and Farber, sending Van Der Beek and Slater packing. But in an unprecedented move, a teary-eyed Brooke asked host Tom Bergeron if she could surrender her spot in the finale and give it to Van Der Beek, who revealed earlier in the show that his wife, Kimberly, suffered a miscarriage over the weekend, just weeks after the two announced on DWTS that they were expecting their sixth child together.

Although DWTS does not allow for a contestant to hand their spot to another (and Van Der Beek did not accept the offer), the former Fifth Harmony member later explained her reasoning behind wanting to do so.

“I’m really sad and I just feel like it’s not right that he went home and that is how I feel,” she told Entertainment Tonight after the show. “Obviously I know Sasha and I have been through hell and back on the show. We’ve overcome so many obstacles and we’re strong people, we adore the show more than anything. I have had the time of my life on this show. But it’s really tough, especially given James’ circumstances that he went tonight.”

“I don’t believe it’s fair that he was sent home, so I just wanted to give my spot to him,” she continued. “He’s been through so much and he’s overcome so many things. Especially this past week, I just felt it was right to give it to him. Obviously he didn’t accept it. I talked to him and he was proud of me. He told me, ‘Don’t be afraid to shine.’ So I’m going to take that with me and I just have to do this for him, is what I feel.”

Farber — who is married to Slater — chimed in, saying, “I know how hard [Brooke’s] worked and it’s just one of those horrible scenarios that you just do not want to be in.”

“At the end of the day, listening to James’ story and looking at Emma, you realize that this just a dance show and what’s important is family,” he added. “And what you get out of this show is true family. We’ve made family with James, Ally’s part of the family. It feels like we’re one clique now.”

Brooke and Farber will be competing for the Season 28 mirrorball trophy against Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson, Hannah Brown and Alan Bersten and Lauren Alaina and Gleb Savchenko during next week’s finals.

“Earlier, when we were about to walk down for the opening number, Lauren was saying, ‘James, next week, when you win the show, when you lift that trophy, we’re going to be so proud of you,’” Savchenko told ET. “We pray for him, we pray for his family, we pray for his wife. We wish him all the best. He was one of the best dancers out there, 100%.”

“I literally said that to him tonight, before the show,” added Alaina. “I said, ‘I may be going home, but I’m going to be so proud to watch you lift that mirrorball if you win it.’ And then he got eliminated! I don’t think anyone in the entire world saw that coming. I would not have wanted to be a judge tonight, I can tell you that.”

Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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